Variety (July 1933)

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^/ti <\r t' Tuesday, July 25, 1933 YAMEYY HOUSE REVIEWS VARIETY 13 PMAtE, N. Y: Agreeable flye-acter on display lor tstLTvyuExtf^ »»» —1— 'rrr- 1 hud m&nv & chautauaua 1 week, but no bait temptini Saturea. ^Jhe f^itc* 4e hixer^to^^^«^^^^^ SSrS^iS enoush to lure the bouse over aver week baa BJthel Barrymore in per-|wu^^^ ^^^jr ^^^^ oAUHelag^ business. TrN-tA n^teetiv -62!—(:W»Xr-wblch_pi « #\C>Uf>C GTATP I Strength ot the mtnstrelB Is their LttilLVf p J t 1 «• slnglnr, *ltbouBb they have se- „ - „ • hava an affinity lected their gags much better than sense; 111 whtoh be l»rtray» f^^^^ different comedy roles in a great bit of burlesquing. The pay customers | manifest their approval loudly at the finish. Aber Twins, back for a eHINESE (WORLD'S FAIR) Chicago, July 20. Great opportunity was muffed Ini n-JAi^^S'wr'Stormy I P»«w ^ *>« cause I age business. Trlvate Detective We^hi?^-^?^)"choiU*^^ ^ 5 ?bS CauSts&n^mposer of th^^^^ ajj^^of^^oj^^ the Kadlo City Music HaU reverythtng they. geL viJlirdu;t, w>lch..has^^p^^^^^ very I^T^^^^ Jff^^^tTf^-r^^l Bpecltillzo on quips sublhitted to a couple ot week« ago should flni sub-feature. The Btflite b^^ ^^j^ f^^g t„ a sense, U„ .^^ ««nnort here oh second parrymoro Btarred ,»<'!*f° therefore, they can alibi their ('Seunlon In Vienna ) with the cot- material as by public de by radio fans., Jn a B«nse, Ifg^j^jy ^^^^ support here oh second com-.:|. ^ „w ^ - *i * * I v«j ».» -J ^-iu...w demand. I ^""V ton Club revue in its entirety trans-i parsons' powerful bass voice Nearest approach to a name on planted from the Harlem nltery was the Individual high scorer on yaude show is lieon Belasco and his Jhe stage; . . ' lP&n„ej?r",!«l**t o'^*,^^^^^ Morit. Sky Garden orchestra. band boys soloing the refrain, while drama such , ^ ,„ 1 the cirls Dlav and dance. The twins probably could be booked San J»flX. ii^l5i?lStI Slcely.-^ " -ley get. 1 obviously is wfiaf many of—the The tremendous popularity of the worked white face, as did the mid- i "--. --"^ I «U*°f« n^T^An'S^iiQi'iiafic I many a season hla soft-voiced per ' oon?%S 'Stormy Weather' billed die inan, Gene Arnold, fOundet and with a specialty dance team and a body worked up to ®n'»»"slaauc many ^ ^^^^ along with the troupe. That's ringleader of the Minstrels, fioys singer. An entertaining attraction, pitch. VlUe units. thO least of which was Sxtfaordlnary for a variety house, as a group and individually stood jjo. 1 ort the bill In worth, „'Hold Tour Mgri.' y^JJ^^-^J® ^i^f^i i^int seven mlle$ ahead of the Snly'in the past have certain pro- | out better than at the Palace, «f- | HatlOw combo, gets top oraw credit.]^ro^y^^^^^^j^ eniertainers with ductlon songs been so identified with their legit staging, but not so *°Sl waters and George Dewey | ™^^J^ M^^ he returns to CBS on the ?SicI?1fS l^ti^ ^iBelascOandhlaorchestrashouldat. City Four is now with them. | tract some' busness through being An appropriate booking for tblis L^^^ ^i^^ air fior both networks. On nanow vwuiuu, b^vo I mhir"«.hell<»va entertainers although Lowry must not be over- make-b^^^^ «,^'e?^J^*T!^hi*^'^v«rlh«^^^ announced by Arnold ^uj. x ne revur.t» . Washington are billed ^y^?'^^**®^^*!*" as one of the last of the old schooL Oldsmoblle program, ton C»ub on and Louie also on the blU, | Belasco has a good eight-piece Danny Healyv for staging which had a Welude in the shape string combination and himself en- Koehler and Harold Axlen for dook, | interpretive overture. Cher- tertains amusingly, singing novelty nlavsky in tfie pit, the girl singing numbers in various languages. His ensemble, Ruth Pi-yor, premier attraction hits, however, largely danseuse, the Evans platoon and through Yivien janis, whose sellinj; a mixture of-pastel costuitnes and of songs Is there 100%, and the so- soft lighting made an attractive ciety dance team of. Minor and Root, secohdaty presentation. doing two beautifully routined and Newsreel was calculated - to. - executed niiittibecs. spread^ respect for Italy. Included . ^iss Janla went so well Saturday was the Italian naval maneuvers ' i"*™ ^ wlth Mussolini in personal attend- ance, and later the Balboites arriv- ing in Manhattan; Land. .lyrics and score. It's the same treatment as presented at the Cap- itol some weeks ago with Duke El- lington's orchestra backing up Miss Waters. This waii Just, before Duke went to liondon and made a hit with the Prince of Walesi The new band coml>3 Is the'Mills Blue Rhythm Band. It's headed by a yeiy likely Jazz-beau with a ner- vous baton who looks okay up In front of this unusual or.chestra. Baron Lee was the lormer maestro. He's out. whereupon Irving Mills thought he'd lend his name to the unit, since he owned it, and labeled I Business here Saturday afternoon -^^^Mimai—Miiialftiil—Blaybavs^-Jha:t^j-wft Thw inftpniflcent modern bounded too hokey so it's Millis' theatre didn't have 300 people Blue Rhythm;. Band, and okay in Seated at the start of the stage show every respect. at 1 o'clock. As usual an audience The colored complement of the as thin as that was unresponsive ACADEMY, N. Y. transplanted cafe floor show besides the starred waters and Washing- ton holds the Nicholas Bros., 4 PJash Devils, Hamtree Harrington, Dusty Fletcher, Katherlne Smith. Cora La-Redd.. Josle Oliver; Sally to an entertainment layout of rou- tine calibre: It was a formula bill and formulas don't seem to work in this particu- lar operation. Audience here re- veals astonishing reactions. Stand- Goodlngs, Henry WIllIattiB, -Talbert I ard material often sails along With Choir and a line of li fast stepping dusky girls. They're sure-fire any time. Aa for the other principals, practically all billed seem to be rep- resented with perhaps one or two exceptions. This ia the cream of colored nite club entertainment and its b. o. ap- peal for -a 66c. house is potent as soon as it's bailyhooed that this show represents a; $2.60 convert and a trip to Harlem, besides other ex- penses. . -. , —Miss' -Waters' handling- of -the highly popular 'Stormy Weather,' backed up by a large chOlr, seemed to be a bit overboard on the' reprise stuff but they went for it, along 'With her other lyric ditties, dohe In _her own individual manner. Whatever the cap^loiisness^ <>n- the choice of her material, through Its familiarity bereabbuts. it's Indisput out a ripple while mediocre stuff frequently evokes a small riot of approval. In this layout the RImacs rumba band with trimmings of hotcha femme -wrigglers, appeared to have the call on blUini^ and attention. Turn is the uttermost hoke of the gaucho technique, weakened, and adulterated with American small time vaudeville Ideals. Why l^th street should go for It, isn't appar- ent, but apparently thait was the item in a: quiet-bill that, piqued their interest, mildly, to be sure, but more than anything- else. 'Bed of Roses' (Radio)' with Con- stance Bennett might be expected to haVe a matinee draw here. Title afternoon, she nearly Jammed the proceedings. After doing a special calling for an impression of Zaaa Pitts and a follow-up in 'Lazy Bones, she admitted that she hadn't re- hearsed a third nUmber, apparently riot expecting to go so well. Audience, In a better, frame of mtnd than some time, also w ent powerfully for Jack Pepper and, in- particular, that ace stooging come- dian of his. This chap, a funny sight to see, but also a clever come- dian; Is likely to get ahdad rapidly. Pepper and his two assistants, ringing and clowning, worked to better advantage here than they,did a week ago at the Alhee, Brooklyn, where Rae Samuels, ahead of them, took the steam" out of the audience on a strong hit. Dick and Edith Barstow,^ long standard, occupy middle of the blU In their neat dance offering, boosted into a strong finish through the tap double on toes, tip and down stairs and on the sUge floor. • . A single fresh to vaudeville, John- nie Woods-(New Acts) was dropped into second place by the^Pal book- ers. He did okay there in a series of impressions of radio personalities, most of thism good, a few not so '-Atfssle land Czecki wh^ and axe-throwing turn, opened noisily as the man gets his whip barking. A UtUe too much of this, but a lot of sklU displayed , in cut- Ing paper, cigs, etc., as well as min- looked in the final reckoning. News completed screen fare. Edwa, PARAMOUNT^ L. A. Loj Ange'Jes, July 20. A distinct departure in pic. house stage fare out rt».re, cui*r«5nt bill con- sists of two lengthy ballet numbers and Will Mabony. Latter supplies the name and laugh draw, wham- ming them,., and the hoOfery pro- , ^ vides the production and beauty and shuts Its portals In the face of balance. the evening crowds. There is also r^anchon & Marco;-the" Saturday- the Temple of Jchol nearby soo the previous, had presented 'Ballet -in I particular section oi ine Undoubtedly the poor grade tal- ent is a reflection of economics. In a theatre with 360 seats there were about 100 filled at 26c during the peak evening 4i0ur. Performance runs about 30 mlputes. WU prob-- ably can't afford to adhere to his own former standards. _^ Show is adjacent to the Republic of China's pavilion. Around the corner is "the Jap«(.ne8e building^ which. Oddly enough, chooses to operate only from 10 a,m. to 8 p.m^ Blue' at the Hollywood Bowl with the summer symphony orcheistra. They've taken that- choreographic endeavor and lifted it onto the stage of the Par.amount. At the first show, unfamiliar Indoor set and approx- imate halving of space resulted in -severa l ' scram bles:—riS^t of . tlid ballets, 'Blue Danube,' is the strong- est of the pair, w.lth Ada Broadbent on her toes for the solo stuff. Cos- tumes, props amd lighting all con- tribute to a tasteful bleridlrig of en- sembles. About 62 peoi>le used. -Mahoney steps in to hold the au-. dience for 20 minutes of his usuatl thoroughly Impregnated with the Orient. Incidentally, In late^ July the backyard of these Asiatic build- ings Is still full of debris which, ostrich-like, they seem to forget can be seen by the Greyhound buses whose right-of-way fronts on noth- inff hut har.kvards. ^ ^ _^ .'L. In view ot the fact that uie uhl-,; nese performers outside of Wu him- self have talent ranglnff *roni the hieagre to the imaginary, giving, a half hour performance ia no cinch.. Troupe .'Vforks entirely in lull stage with Chinese > drapes and other dragon art,to decorate the platform and the company of some 12. per- routincr as dope here previously at L^ons. .. A member of Mr, I»etrlllo'8 the Chinese and.Loew's State, and still captures as many, if not more, laughs , as on his initial appearance. Then comes 'Rhapsody in Blue' by the ballet, too long and not suf- ficiently strong to close after - the first two segments, but still inters estihg ensemble .work. Riibe "WOirs orchestra • plays the dance music capably. Show runs about 36 mln- muslcians' union pounds the piano for the musical accompaniment. Incidentally, the piano needed tun- ing. ■ . _ . . All pop American songs are used I-^"Farewell to Arms,' Ireland . Must Be Heaven.^ 3 Can't Give vYou Any- thing but Love,' and so forth. There is Wu's usual •Florodora' ymniber with the gbrls, Wu does a. nice bit able that'Miss Waters' treats it in a I side Of thO Latin rhythm band there style all her own, and gets over wasn't anything on" the five-act bill with the customers. S^^'s rather | to attract. under wraps as. to the choice pf the ' more.to^rjrld material which she pre- viously popularized^ but that's, some- thing that must be reserved : for suggsts spicy doings and all the ex- L.^? *l„g„^y in tossing the axes handkerchief is whipped completely out of small pocket from the cos- tume worn.by the glrL. Palace nice and comfortable, bet- ter cooled than many theatres, but its show not compeUlng enough Sat- iiloittttlott^lflr along sexy-lines.—Re { suits, iis^reVealed in a count of the house were substantially nlL Out- Next to dosing has Don Zeiaya, more South. America by inference, but really a class musical turn, with comedy embroideries. Not Uiider about wie-third of the seats. Chor, the late hOur customers^ " Aft«sr all any circumstances to be classed as there is a dlff between 66c. and $?.60. Miss Waters is Slated fOr a $4 Broadway musical this fall. Ahel. CHICAGO Chicago, July 21. Having played the Palace, it was inevitable that- the Sinclair Min- strels should play the Chicago. This is. hot a .wise remark at B&^'s ex- ' pense but rather a commentary -on how tough getting attractions is and the fact that the two houses . . exchange Jieadllners with -■ .unCaJllng regularity. Palace follows the Chi- cago as .often as vice versa. "Aa At happens the Sinclair Mln- , strels are a good bet and buy for the Chicago. Better probably than - they were v -f or - the • . Palace last . .spring. FOr the reason,, not hard to decipher, . from, the unmistakable omens, that tiie vast floating .pppu- : lation of -OUt-of-town tourists pro- vide a natural audience fOr - the ■ minstrels whose popularity iis gen-, erally .deemed .more -Intense out- side than inside the boundaries of Cook County. Business was very strong opening' day with little else to credit for it outside of the Min- strels. 'Strangers Return' . (M-G) with Lionet Barryriiore. Miriam Hopkins, and Franchpt TOne On the marquee is. scarcely an explaniLtlon. iSylvla Frboa, of course, may be helping, she. also being a radio per- sonality as well as a gal that is -wisely learning how to perform on a stage without the aid . oiE. micro- phones. Let it be set down right here that In the qtadlum-Uke Ch^ ■cagb she got over most handily, In- idicatiiig a proportlontaely greater effectiveness for smaller auditor- iums. Wise choice for the heavy isipot on a neighborhood bill. He did well enough considering; the situation, but that didn't mean much. Rest . of. the bill was: machine- made. An acrobatic opener, singing male quintet for No. 2, indefinite dance fiash fOr No. 3; Zeiaya for next to shut and the Rlmacs for the bow-but. Just a heigh-ho layot^t for a< sppt that apparently needs shreW. analysis and radical, treat- ment Ip supplying what the clientele will go for. It seems to be demon- strated that a conservative policy -Isn't-what'the rsltuation calls for. Don Valetlo, wire walker, opens. Capital-turn of its kind. Latin look- ing principal has a blonde girl as- sistant, who does a so-so.toe dance as preliminary .'to the work on the strand. .-. Shapely glrT of sblld pro- portions is an eyeful. Valerlo^s work on .the wire' is excellent with a sensational sliding split In balance (he uses a parasol), and for ai finale, - striking Charleston steps on the slender supper£ / , Honey Boys'mi^ old-time minstrel singing and . ieag exchange with niodern crooning effects a^id niake a good inipresslon In the light No. 2 position. Work In flamboyant minstrel clothes of red mess Jackets and white flannels and make a nice appearance, but have nothing out- standing, unless a 'symphonic' har- monizing, of 'Trees' for the flnish may be regarded In that light. Chester Fredericks Is a graduate capably, snow runs aooui ao mm- "--- 't;; "---:.^^^ ^ abstract ut?s and bl^^^capaolty at opening Of serio^ chlnS' bVt bS performance, due to a street parade J^®^ unbe- heraldlng the initial sequence of "^J""^^ 'Tairzan the^ IVarless' <I^er ^levab^^ its^^^ serial), and the free admission o« i-.2riwC th^^ Juries and f'^;i^/',T.%^.s™fpiT ^A^^^^'^ l^tlSlB iffiJd bodUy from Hearst is'Midnight Club (P^.).. X-eny, papers. Coming from a foreign per- former In an/all-Chinese show, la _ - Taa an International exposition, this.is LOEW S ORPHEUM about the ultimate in bad guessing; a^vra^TT ^ * ._LT6gether-wItb,the:.Ameri'iaft^1^^^ Tricky layout, but It seryos be- Uierlsmd And perfect English of -^ho cause the RkO house across the Chlriese girls and the comlc^ ilse way Offers no competition. I-aves .ot gic^^^^^^ the Orph to do as it. pleases on any- | riicket,^ it's pretty hard to be- lieve billing matter attributing the company to China. . For 26 cents the averajgre out-of- tOwn visitor, however, Vrlll P^b- ably feel he has refeelved hla money's worth. While showmen will wonder how they muffed the Chinese dranitt that might have.be- come a highlight of the exposlUon with its continuous performance and authentic oriental flavor, it la to be remembered that the typical tourist comes to the World's .Fair with his ,mOuth. agape and his eyes thing and currently it smacks -with u^daTafternMrtTio^^^ Great Lester, prestidigitator. He rihiir ' closes the . lest.^6 minutes ot the bill for the bliggest value on the show. Biz only fair when caught ^Friday (opening) night. The Orph layout begins .with a! STATE, A. ■Los XngeleS, Jnly . ■ i-ne yjvpu layuui. MtsBUlo .*»»vu €1. Ed. Lowry's St. Louis J"""^ jaw act, Stanley Bros, and Attree, have preceded him here. The. rer. < * ceptlon, plus the capacity house. good, but if they keep returning to ^^t,..^,., - ,r. . oftoot an-1 this spot too frequently It won't which Kreeted his inlUal_coast a^^^ ^j^^ theatre, pearance at^the Stote^tpday^sho^^^ The three middle turns on an o lone way towird establishing , _ ...a-o-^ — . the confidence necessary for a long Orph layout are never meant to be popping. There was some srounds eneacement. Once he has felt his strong, except by accident. Noth- for believing the majority of ^he wkv out Lowry. baaed on his sue- incr as fortuitous as that happens Uudlence except for that 'Buy ceaaful debut. Ought to gO a long this half. Just tjiree lightly pleas- K^erlcan' false note enjoyed the wav in these pa^^ ant acts. Interesting enough also, performance, I^^nd- Here's a unique type of stage because two may be classed as new,' m c possessing personality, a so far as the files go. These are Bill breezi^ style, an Infectious smile, Aron^on and Co. (company meaning loads of showmanship and ability the pianist, presumably) and the to do things in an Intimate sort of Samuel Brothers'Revue; The revue way without becoming in the least end is Harriet Hayes and Kay. War- bit Offensive, such as has been the ner, one a blonde, other a brunet. fault of too many coatst m. c's in Both girls lend allure jind color to days gone by. ' Ihe three-day dancera who dO cOTO- Lowry-works hard, never seeming cdy precision in the flash mariner, to tire, arid without apparent They rinanage tb continue giggles ■ " - —started lightly by Aronson. MET, BROOKLYN energy. Backed by a smart orchcs tro, there's plenty enough diversity of fare to make it something worth- while at the wicket. Aside from a tendency toward a little too miich hoke, Lowry's opening day can be rurig up- -as a solid , click,-- a,nd -a master of ceremonies whom the State patrons are going to like. No attempt made at pretentious staging; Just plain drapes, with a few huge pennants, indicating a de- sire to provide entertainment, rather than spectafsle. Lowry loses no time hitting his stride. Opening with a few gags that partially re- veal his cleverness, he Introduces Arbrison does radio Impersoria- tionSk He's the same Aronson of Aronson, Fayre and Lane. He had I an easy time, when caught.'~ Nextrto-shut is Wally Jackson and Eddie Gardner, abetted by Oh^ry Frayne. Miss Frayne Is a; plumpy blonde with plenty allure and she traipses into the Jiiickson- Gardner gaggy antics by being in- troed tb sing, but instead, she cooches. Over; and then the Great Lester. ' He projects many tricks,, but the Fair show here this week, with a couple high spots. It'll probably get its share of business^ Borrah Mlneyioh Is the chief at- tractfon -arid the TiarmonrcS' maes- tro always gets bis. He cloBes the five act -vaude layout .and mops-up, having a tough time getting off< Will Demarest, billed in type: JUst a shade smaller than Mlnevlch's, is centered for latigh purposes, which lo probably Just as well. He shp- plles all the comedy for the bill and does it in his usual ieasy manner. Act seems to be soriifewhat shorter than It used to be, therefore tighter and impresses better. Hope Venion, with Demarest, a singer with a trick voice, does well by herself and the team goies a long way toward establishing the audience in the Strange Inter- off ormer-presentation units, a nice iramed and built-the. stage show. In appearing youngster and. a capital dancer-In ecceritric and aero dc-. pairtments, but this frame-up Is Just one of those half-rehearsed, and soon abandoned flashes. Employs qS-.., naturanr Lou I^Ipston. t S54'^lVn'S%aS'X''^S»r^^^^ Artley-George:=by-na;me-^who=can sing well and dance not so. Here they're consigned to stooge roles. Sketch backgr ound never gets any- where. THeystaiTtoTSnilT and Ih en- forget it Indication of how shape- less the thing Is is conveyed in the finish when Fredericks does a good aero routine and then all three walk Off on an exit so bald that It scarcely got a patter. Ruih, sister, who hOof through several tap makes the Individuals disappear routines,-displaying^ a I nifty lot of | right out of their deathly, cassocks. Fast illusionary stuff and Lester got ample rewards.. Uses two girl assista,nts for the disappearing stuff and otheVwise has a couple., of right mood, That , , , , , lude'bit is especiially good and looka ^ost - .*?^^£e3ting . a^^ chair and the gallows thing. He | ^ a bit. nilnstrel fashion.. A group" of female islngers are on the platform and be- hind-, them the house Orchestra. -Everybody .4s—In—white—satin., but Only; Cliff Soubier, Mac MacCloud, Fritz. Clark and Bill Chllds cork ■ up;- Evans' ballet, again adhering to pearly shimmering fabrics, float -in and out betweri llmeis to add teppsichoreah touches. Totality Is a picture both bright and summery. steps. Then into the only band number, a hokey selection, with Lowry and otlier members of the outfit chant- ing, clowning and gagging. It Is spentaricous^stuffir'but-only -mildly received. Next introduced are the Aber-Twins, on lor a bit of comedy with the m. c, and then one of the attracTIve blonde femmcfl worlrttijr Ihto a blackotit with Lowry, with Sammy Cohen, screen comi<:, switched for the girl in a love em- brace for the denouement. Cohen works all the way through with Lowry, offering a lot Of non- Show starts slowly with the Three St. John BrothtSrs bpehirig and Dean and Meyers In the deuce. St, Johns are oke hand to hand lads that cres- cendo their tricks nicely. Dean and Mcveris are a boy arid' girl team, dressed up deckhands to move |. -gp^^^ dance arid both Ko_ for double thiffgs "about; - , jointed body arid -leg behttfn^^^ . Lester, opens ,in 'full' and com- I pretty good fpr the type of act, but bines a wiife. balancing, trick with not e'specially impressive. -some-ventciloquist-stuflL.-Takes this L—in—the—next to Rloalng..^pnt_la_a_^, limb also to do the wine and water f»iri Alice Dawn, who doesn't ,show trick. Newsreel and Laurel and Hardy short round out'the film end, -which ha.<5 'I-Cover the Waterfront' (TTA) as feature. Bhan.. lip in the office files. She's young, ffood looklric:, and his a fine voice, .fiist tbfi usual type of solo' yaude .singer .1 fow yenrs apo. Today She ■ (rontlnucd on pagfe 34) ■